Theater Careers: A Realistic Guide

Theater Careers: A Realistic Guide

Theater Careers: A Realistic Guide

Synopsis

Theater Careers is designed to empower aspiring theater professionals to make savvy, informed decisions through a concise overview of how to prepare for and find work in the theater business. Tim Donahue and Jim Patterson offer well-researched information on various professions, salary ranges, educational and experience requirements, and other facets certain to enlighten students contemplating a theater career, as well as inform counselors, teachers, and parents of available opportunities and the demands of each path. Theater Careers offers valuable details not readily available elsewhere, including • Dozens of informative job descriptions surveying the impressive variety of theater careers, both on and off the stage • Statistics on the working and earning prospects of various careers as drawn from the best sources in the business • Thoughtful assessments of the value of education and training choices, including the most meaningful way to look at the costs of college--estimating net costs, which is seldom described elsewhere--and how to choose a school Straightforward and objective, Theater Careers is an ideal reference for those seeking careers in the theater. Armed with this information, readers will be better equipped to pursue choices that best lead to satisfying and secure employment in the rewarding field of the dramatic arts.

Excerpt

If you are in one of the five groups identified here, Theater Careers was written especially for you:

High school students who want a career in theater

High school students contemplating further training in theater

Guidance counselors who need a better understanding of the facts aboutcareers in theater in order to help students

College students looking for the facts before they leap into a theater careeror graduate training after graduation

Parents of high school or college students determined to forge a theatercareer

There are many books offering advice for aspiring theater folk, mostly actors: how to manage your career, how to find an agent, how to audition, how to he a betteractor, how to etc., etc. These books are full of opinions—some worthwhile, some not. Theater Careers is clearly different. Here are the facts and not just for aspiring actors. Theater Careers presents the full spectrum of theater careers:

What kind of theater jobs are out there? And where?

How much do they pay?

What training and experience are required to land those jobs?

What sort of higher education prepares the student for those careers?

What are some real examples of people, mostly actors, who changed theircareer paths but remained in theater?

How can you stay current on theater jobs?

Theater Careers is concise, clear, and current. The facts you need to know to make informed decisions about a career in theater are here.

Different Approaches to the Text

The way to use this book is up to you. Chapter 1, for example, is mostly a list of real theater job descriptions. After reading the introductory paragraphs, you . . .